


don't let me go

by Kazutoes



Category: Never Let Me Go (2010), The Social Network (2010)
Genre: Character Death, I wrote this all in one day so now I'm getting around to editing it, M/M, Never Let Me Go AU, loose au, mark is hard to write, may be ooc idk, mentioned Chris/Dustin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:59:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22546672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kazutoes/pseuds/Kazutoes
Summary: Eduardo doesn't survive his third donation.
Relationships: Chris Hughes/Dustin Moskovitz, Eduardo Saverin/Mark Zuckerberg
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	don't let me go

**Author's Note:**

> HI I WROTE THIS ALL IN ONE DAY AND NOW IM EDITING IT OOF
> 
> I hope it isn't too ooc, I'm like. horrendously bad at writing mark it's. Aa.
> 
> Anyway I hope it's enjoyable !
> 
> slightly inspired by the song build you up by kim taylor

"You're gonna be there when I wake up, right?"

The soft-spoken question bounces around the room, the whisper only barely reaching Mark's ears. Quiet beeps cut through the silence, reminding them both about what was gonna happen. What could happen.

"Of course I will be." Mark whispers back, tightening his hold on Eduardo's weak grip. They both knew what was coming. This was Eduardo's third donation, and it may be his last. Mark didn't have it in him to tell Eduardo that he might not make it.

Any other time, he would have told Eduardo the truth. That's what they promised each other. Before Eduardo's first donation, he made Mark  _ swear _ that he wouldn't lie. He didn't want false promises, or half truths.

"I know what's coming," Eduardo would say, back when he was actually healthy. "I don't want to be lied to, Mark. Don't do that to me. Please."

It had been several months since they had made that promise to each other. Mark did his best to keep that promise. He understood that everyone else tries to sugarcoat everything for them, to make it seem like he was gonna pull through this. That  _ they _ were gonna pull through this.

The encouraging words they got from various other donors, how each carer Eduardo got tried to tell him that he would make it through the next one. It made Eduardo sick. He didn’t want false platitudes or words of encouragement- he wanted this to be over. He wanted to stop feeling like death was imminent. 

Mark remembers the night Eduardo exploded. It was the day before his second donation, where everyone was trying to tell him about how he was gonna make it through.   


The tear-filled rant of knowing that he was gonna die, how worthless he was to the Originals. He was only made to serve other people. A clone of a real person.   


That day, him and Eduardo saw their clones. It was on the television, at some random  _ cafe _ they were at. After a donor’s first donation, you were allowed to leave the facility for the day. It was a chance to get away from what they were running from, something both Eduardo and Mark gladly took.   


Mark was busy working on some sort of dissertation, something the government wanted him to do. They had said that his clone was extremely intelligent, and they needed someone like him. Which, was a fancy way of saying that they wanted someone to control. Fear was a great motivator. It was a way to keep from having to donate for the time being, which Eduardo made him take.   


Eduardo was reading from an economics textbook, something for which he’d been saving for a while. Mark saw him up late the first night he had gotten it, pouring over the pages like it was the best thing he had seen. For the last couple of weeks, Eduardo was trying to work out an algorithm for Mark’s program, something to do with matching donors to people who need them.

Mark hated seeing Eduardo having to work on something that would end up killing him. They said that they could try to get longer in-between donation times if he worked on it with Mark, and Eduardo agreed. So here he was, writing down some sort of equation that was supposed to help match people up.

“So, if donator A matched the same qualifications of person A, they would get matched together,” Eduardo explained one night at the cottages, after they had gotten home from the beach. “If donator A didn’t have what person A had, then they would automatically go on to person B,”   


Mark doesn’t remember what else Eduardo had said about it. Mark wished he had paid attention, how Eduardo still had the fire in his eyes and how he basically lit up when he was trying to explain it to Mark. How he wished for those moments back.   


The television was playing silently in the background, turned to some news channel. From what Mark had gathered from the subtitles, they were about to air an interview with some sort of CEO and CFO. He turned back towards his computer.

A few minutes later, however, he looked up to see Eduardo staring at the TV, teary-eyed. He turned around to find himself staring at his and Eduardo’s originals, doing that interview.

“It’s us,” Eduardo had whispered, raising a hand to cover his mouth.

_ “Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin are here with us today…” _ The subtitles read, dark against the brightness of the interview room.

He turns back as Eduardo continues to stare, noticing that people were starting to stare. The Originals were gaping, pulling out their phones

“Wardo, we have to go,” Mark whispered, grabbing his laptop and Eduardo’s hand. He was thankful nobody tried to come up to them.

“Wha…?” Eduardo whispers, but lets Mark lead him out of the coffee shop.

The memory fades like a dream. He’s pulled roughly back into reality by Eduardo coughing loudly, wheezing as he struggles to intake more air.

"And, if I don't make it tomorrow," Eduardo says, his voice hitching. Mark closes his eyes, shaking his head no silently. He didn't want to think about it. Mark forces himself to look at Eduardo, trying not to take note of the oxygen cannula, or paleness of his face. 

Gentle rivulets of tears start to fall down Eduardo's face as he struggles to speak, not wanting to accept it. That he might die tomorrow.

"If I don't," He starts again, and squeezes Mark's hand as hard as he can. Mark can't help but make notice of how weak the attempt was. "If I don't…"

Mark wraps his arms around Eduardo's frail frame 

"I… I love you, Mark," Eduardo cries out, a sob forcing its way out. Mark feels like the room just turned cold and dark. 

"Wardo…" Mark whispers, the hot burn of tears making themselves known in his eyes.

“Mark,” he sobs, pressing his face into Mark’s shoulder.

"I love you too," He murmurs out, wishing he could just do  _ something _ to comfort Eduardo. But there was nothing they could do.

They lie there in the dark, holding each other for what felt like the final time.

\-----------

Mark watches through the glass as they put Eduardo to sleep. He can see the smile on Eduardo's face before he finally succumbs to the anesthesia, a mixture of hopeful and bitter.

Needless to say, he didn't survive the operation.

Mark didn't know what else to expect. He knew that survival rates were  _ very _ slim after the final operation, that there was almost no way Eduardo would come out of that alive.

He supposes there was some part of him that wished that he could have defied the odds.

Chris visits him after the final donation, holding a bottle of shitty beer and a grim smile on his face. Mark glances at the bottle before taking it, letting a smirk rest on his pale features.

"You know I can't have this, right?" He asks, opening it on the nightstand. Chris sighs.

"One night," he says, and sits down opposite of Mark. "One night to mourn."

It didn't take a genius to realize Dustin was gone, too. The way Chris seemed to stare off into space every few minutes, skirting around the topic of the blond.

"I'm sorry," Mark says, after a moment. He knew exactly what Chris was going through, the circling thoughts of  _ why _ ? He looks at Mark, eyes filled with grief.

"Yeah," He murmurs. "They'll be missed."

Mark nods.

They pass the night away with stories of Eduardo and Dustin, the survivors both grieving and bonding over their memories.

The next day, Mark turns in his resignation. He had planned to become a donor after Eduardo finally passed, but he never expected it to hurt this much.

"I'll see you soon, Wardo," He mutters to himself after he finally registers.

He didn't believe in God, but it was more comforting to believe that maybe, just maybe.

He would see Eduardo again.


End file.
